U.S govt shutdown set to drag on to 2019 as Trump, Democrats stick to their stands

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Friday 28 December 2018 3:01 pm IST

The partial U.S government shutdown is all set to drag on to the new year as opposition Democrats and Republicans refused to show any sign of compromise to end the impasse over President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding.

Trump has refused to sign any stopgap spending bill that does not has provisions to fund a wall along the U.S-Mexico border which he says is essential to stop the flow of illegal immigrants.

The Democrats, who will hold majority in the U.S House of Representatives in 2019 and carries the crucial numbers in the Senate despite being in minority, has argued that such a move is waste of taxpayers' money.

Statements issued by both the camps on Thursday indicated that the impasse is all set to continue in the new year. The partial government shutdown that started last Saturday has affected 800,000 federal employees, who have either been furloughed or are working without pay.

President Trump continued to blame Democrats for the shutdown. In a tweet, Trump said the government shutdown is not about the wall.

"Everybody knows that a Wall will work perfectly (In Israel the Wall works 99.9%). This is only about the Dems not letting Donald Trump and the Republicans have a win. They may have the 10 Senate votes, but we have the issue, Border Security. 2020! he said.